A survey by YouView says that catch-up and on demand viewing now accounts for six hours of TV use in the typical week.
The PSB-telco broadband service, celebrating its first birthday this month, says the typical Briton records a total of nine-hours television a week.
Catch-up TV services, such as the BBC iPlayer and ITV Player, now take a fifth of the UK’s viewing time.
The study of more than 2,000 people, carried out by YouGov, found that while the average home records around 10 programmes in a typical week, they delete four of those on average without watching them – with entertainment the mostly likely (36%) to be binned followed by films (32%) and documentaries (32%).
Three-quarters (77%) of those questioned still use their main TV the most, the average home now has four different devices (including their main TV) on which they can watch TV, which is just over double the number they had five years ago. However, this rises to an average of six devices for the 18-24 year olds questioned.
Steve Conway, head of marketing, YouView said, “Television is a huge part of British life but we know the way people view it is changing beyond all recognition. What is becoming important to TV fans is being able to watch what they want, whenever they want it and this research supports that.”
The research also found that across the country, alongside their TV, 57% of those questioned said they use their computer to watch television content, 14% do so through a games console like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 and 25% access TV on a tablet with iPad and iPad mini the favourite at 19% vs. 6% for Android models.
Spending on subscription TV services has also increased by around 40% in five years with the average household monthly payment now £29.89. Nearly a quarter (23%) spend more than £50 per month. TV-related downloads also account for £1.56 per month from iTunes or the Google Play Store, with men spending £2.03 versus £1.13 for women.
